Precision Medicine will need to get out of the pharma silo that is based on symptoms

Welcome to the digital era of biology (and to this modest blog I started in early 2005).To cure many diseases, like cancer or cystic fibrosis, we will need to target genes (mutations, for ex.), not organs! I am convinced that the future of replacement medicine (organ transplant) is genomics (the science of the human genome). In 10 years we will be replacing (modifying) genes; not organs!

Chinese people and people from New-Zealand do have one thing in common: they are a Nation of farmers. Peasants. Once you've established this, all you can talk about are... differences... There's a gap between both countries: Chinese love the noise and big crowds, they love to rush, they couldn't care less about ecology. Earth health is not an issue for them. They don't give a flying freck...

In New-Zealand, people love to take their time, they also find it highly enjoyable to contemplate a beautiful and quiet landscape... They are all about sustainable farming... Eco freaks... Earth health and sustainable development are top priorities here (throughout the country). "Avatar" is a movie about environment and sustainable production of energy... OK. First things first. "Avatar" is entertainment stuff... The environment storyline musn't be too strident... James Cameron wants to shoot "Avatar 2" (and 3 and 4) with a crew of "as much as possible" Chinese actors. Here, in New-Zealand. Guess why...

My wild guess: because he wants to educate worldwide leading nation (China in just a few years) about earth health...

Big Pharma and Hollywood gained their privileges because of the innovation (breakthrough) they brought about... Now they take those privileges for granted... Fire the innovative people and hire financial and legal experts instead... whose mission is: maintain the privileges at all costs. Forget about the innovation...

It is only normal that, in such a context, innovative people try to achieve hudge, hollywood-like projects... but innovative projects... Just like Hollywood did in the past...

Think of "Avatar", the "Lord of the Ring" Trilogy...

Did you know that you can print your own medicine thanks to 3D bioprinting? You no longer need the "help" of Big Pharma to find and take your medication...

Hollywood and Big Pharma: Barbarians became Emperors... A well-known story... And yet... Other Barbarians are ready for a "war" against Emperors... Another well-known story?...

"Mega" clients (Kim Dotcom, offering file-locker service with limited government regulation) will pay with bitcoins: digital money, Swiss Banking Regulation (SBR) instead of FBI... Digital payment combined with upload services... both are no longer subject to (hopefully) any government regulation... Digital freedom for "citizens without governments" (citizens freeing themselves from lobbies-biaised governments, that is)... Governments for the people, by the people. Forget it. Government now means: governed by lobbies' financial interests... People got sick of it...

Here, in Wellington (pic: Moana Lodge, Plimmerton, New Zealand), you can see James Cameron: he's just moved here for the shooting of Avatar 2 to 4 in NZ... He'd like to hire loads of Chinese actors, but... loads of cultural obstacles need to be overcome first: language is only one, and not the biggest... New Zealanders are cool and minimal fuss. They don't like big crowds, noise, (financial) hype and show-off... Chinese people, on the contrary... New-Zealand is a small-town-country, really...having awesome landscapes... It's not a huge society, unlike China... Maybe Cameron should hire ("curry") Indians instead? And how about Native Americans? "Feather" Indians do have some cool war dances ;-)

In France medicine is organised around the physicians' needs (not the patients') and education is all about the needs of teachers (forget about the students)... In the average French middle school, students can choose ancient Greek as an option. So typical... Why not informatics or genomics instead? Europe has fallen asleep and will remain so for the next 10 years...

Matamata... I love the town... And the people... Special thanks to Kathleen and John Day, B&B Chestnut Lane Cottage, Eldonwood, Matamata. Thanks for the advice, the food, the spotless and charming cottage... I'd love to live here... Small town... 5.500 souls in this village... the... Hobbit Village...

Celebrating Chinese New Year with my family in Malaysia... Xin Nian Kuai Le everybody! Happy New Year of the Water Snake... Had an informal meeting with KPMG Founder and Google Inc. VP marketing. They both say France will be an Islamic Republic in 30 years... They sounded very serious about it...

London will become a worldwide financial hubHong-Kong already isNew York no longerisNY stock exchange caught up in a post-crisisregulation frenzyPost-Nine ElevenPost-Ponzi's scheme...Monkey moneyto be continued?Europe is stuck with controversial policiesFrance debating over same sex marriageover and overagain and overOver.Chinese money will replace the American dollarDemise of Dollar as world currencyAsia will have worldwide financial hubandworld currency.In Memoriam Aaron Swartz.

Who are you?

In March 2005, I've initiated a blog about bioethics. Organ replacement technologies and genomics are part of today's sustainable health economics. This is not medicine under ideological pressure ! ...